Foreign countries, donors set March as deadline

Diplomats of big countries and donor agencies have set March as the deadline for meeting the remaining conditions including appointment of inspectors and establishment of comprehensive database for Bangladesh's apparel sector.
Although Bangladesh has made some progress in respect of safety compliances in the readymade garment sector, they said many issues still need to be addressed in this connection especially to restore the GSP facilities in the US market.
The observations came in a meeting attended by secretaries of ministries of foreign affairs, commerce and labour, ambassadors from the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Head of the EU delegation and representatives from JICA, Accord, Alliance and ILO.
"Good progress is being made. And the focus is on end of March deadline because people want to get GSP restored in the way that is to follow the roadmap on the GSP action plan and Sustainability Compact," US Ambassador Dan W Mozena told the reporters after the meeting.
Good roadmap has been laid out for additional progress in the weeks ahead, he said reiterating the focus on March for having these different elements set in place.
Establishment of publicly accessible database, labour rights and workers' rights to freely associate are among the issues needs to be addressed, he added.
Canadian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Heather Cruden said they had discussed the progress on labour standards in the country's RMG sector.
All joined Thursday's meeting to co-ordinate among all the initiatives following the anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy on April 24 next as well as the GSP deadline, she said adding international media, people who buy and consume Bangladeshi apparel products, buyers and others want to know the developments so far made in the garment sector.
"Lots of works need to be done to meet by March with the commitments outlined in the compact and in other documents," she added.
Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, William Hanna stressed the need for the speedy establishment of transparent database and recruitment of 200 additional inspectors.
The meeting pressed on execution of the commitments in line with the US Action Plan and Compact especially the recruitment of inspectors and publicly accessible database by March, meeting sources said.
He said the government explained at the meeting about the progress so far made as recommended by the action plan and compact while Accord and Alliance had also stated their respective progress while ILO screened its presentation on database.